Thursday, 7/21:
Thursday’s class was unique insofar as my previous experiences at RGA go. Following warm-ups and takedowns our brown belt instructor had all 11 white belts in the class line up along the wall. He then explained to us the activity we’d be partaking in for most of the class. One by one, each white belt was to get in his guard and attempt to pass, as he tried to sweep or submit. We spent the next 20-30 minutes doing this, each white belt going once.
I was fourth on the line. It was a great opportunity to learn. We rolled for a while, and at one point I got double underhooks on his legs. However, I took too long proceeding, and he was able to defend the position. When I asked later, he explained my mistake and how he defended. I simply took too long after locking my arms around his legs. I should have immediately pulled him in, sprawled and stacked for the pass, but I took too long and he was able to defend. He explained that the defense would be to open the legs and push your hips up towards your opponent, so he can’t pull them under him and stack for the pass. After he used this defense on me, he grabbed my collar and began working to re-acquire his open guard.
By the end, none of the students managed to pass the instructor’s guard. Two came very close, and I think I would have as well if I followed through correctly with my double underhooks.
We finished class off with some guard-specific training.